And then there was Fred.
Fred got his at Sicily.
He'd been training for three and one half years
And he was in on the Big Push… three weeks!
Sure… it was shrapnel.
Took an eye out… and gave him a bum leg.
He had a picture of his English bride…
"Coming out to Canada, by God!
Next month — if they'll let her.
Pretty good-looking guy
Wasn't I… in the wedding picture?"
You're doggone right!
But it made a fellow so damn mad!
Three and one half years' training
To "get into it" — for three weeks.
And then … hospitals …
One after the other …
For God-knows-how-long.
It made a guy so damn mad!
Mac hasn't any arms, now, either.
"How did he blow his nose?" —
Well … he could laugh at that feeble crack,
And even give it serious consideration.
"By Gosh! —- I don't think I've had a cold
Since I got `knocked off' in Italy."
Mac is married.
He'd even had some leave
Out of "this here" hospital.
Getting ready for artificial arms, now.
Has to "stay put" for a while, yet …
Oh, it takes quite a while,
This business of making a man
Makeshift-whole, again!
(Wonderful how a guy can pick up a book
in his teeth —
Smoke a cigarette, even — with a little help!)
Further down the line there's a chap
with no nose.
And a very young, fair-haired boy
So badly burned
That you couldn't identify a feature
But his bright blue eyes.
Bright … and hard … and sharp…
On the look-out for pity.
(Don't let your lips quiver
In front of the young, fair-haired boy.
Don't look at him with tears in your eyes —
Can't you see how he feels?)
Going out, there are wheelchairs —
Doors opening on to rooms
Where wisps of men like grey shadows
Lie, curled up against their pillows.
The hospital smell clings to your skin,
To your palate.
You breathe it… taste it…
Stifle, in it!
Dear God! Let him play games
For a little while, yet!
Let him laugh out loud
And run like a young god
In the path of the sun.
I have been to a Military Hospital
And I know there is nothing we can give
To Mike and John, and Freddie and Mac
That will make up for their Gethsemane.
There is nothing!
Glass eyes are not enough!
Artificial limbs are not a fair exchange…
Dear God… let him play games
For a little while, yet!
So Fair a Season